Kittens Vaccinations

I have a litter of 3 kittens from a rescue I did of a feral cat. I had no idea she was with family at the time. She is lovely and you'd never know it now that she were feral. I've rescued several other feral cats as well. Since this is getting costly to vaccinate so many cats I began to research giving the vaccinations myself as some breeders do. My question is, is there a reason the vets like to give the lukemia shot seperately from the other combinations or is that just convienence so they don't have to have the all in one vaccine too? I know that the kittens are not supposed to have the lukemia until later. I just hate to stick them so much if I can help it. Is it less effective this way? Since I am not a cattery, I thought I could wait until the 9 weeks to use the all in one instead of starting them earlier and then repeating. Any suggestions or opinions would be helpful. The last two cats cost me $300 just for initial exams and shots. I can't bear the thought of another $450 plus the costs of neutering and spaying them all. I also read I one of the other posts that it is reccommended to give Drontal to outdoor cats if they eat their prey. Do you need to test first before giving this or is it safe enough to just give and how often for adult cats? I also see there are mail in tests out there. Are these pretty accurate? Just trying to not go broke helping the animals! Thanks.

I've been in that very position - a feral cat that I took in turned out to be preggers. Actually, I've been in that situation a couple of times! They do have active social lives, don't they?!

Anyway, I'll give what info I can, based on my experience with myriad rescued cats (I have six in my home now, four that are ours forever and 2 that we are fostering) and on what I have been told by the vet that I go to and work with through a rescue team that I am a member of. That's a pretty convoluted sentence, but you get the gist...

No, as far as I know, the only reason to mix vaccines is to save the kitty the extra needle sticks. So, it isn't more effective one way or the other. I would go ahead and wait. If they seem healthy and normal, it should be fine and it's what I would do.

I don't know anything about mail in testing, sorry. I wish I did, it sounds handy. Maybe you can tell me!

Be aware that, with any use of a syringe there is some chance of scarring that can lead to benign or even cancerous tumors. This can happen with vets as well as us at home and I'm not trying to scare you. Just be really careful and don't go to exactly the same spot for each shot and you should be fine. Yet another reason why I love intranasal vaccines, too bad they aren't all in that form.

I'm going to include a link and the end of this post. You've probably seen the site already, but they seem to have pretty good prices and some good, if basic, advice for administering the vaccines, so it's here in case it's helpful.

Drontal is considered very safe and should be fine to give right away. My vet has given me similar parasite meds (wormers) and told me to just dose everybody, no problem. And I've done it lots of times. There's probably more danger in them going without it than there is in giving it to them pre-testing.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=87

So, from a fellow cat lady, welcome to the board, I hope this was at least a little bit helpful. I know it's frustrating when you are spending all that money and it's not cheap at home either. Believe me, I know. But we do it anyway, while bemoaning the gorgeous shoes we could've bought with all that cash!

I've been in that very position - a feral cat that I took in turned out to be preggers. Actually, I've been in that situation a couple of times! They do have active social lives, don't they?!

Anyway, I'll give what info I can, based on my experience with myriad rescued cats (I have six in my home now, four that are ours forever and 2 that we are fostering) and on what I have been told by the vet that I go to and work with through a rescue team that I am a member of. That's a pretty convoluted sentence, but you get the gist...

No, as far as I know, the only reason to mix vaccines is to save the kitty the extra needle sticks. So, it isn't more effective one way or the other. I would go ahead and wait. If they seem healthy and normal, it should be fine and it's what I would do.

I don't know anything about mail in testing, sorry. I wish I did, it sounds handy. Maybe you can tell me!

Be aware that, with any use of a syringe there is some chance of scarring that can lead to benign or even cancerous tumors. This can happen with vets as well as us at home and I'm not trying to scare you. Just be really careful and don't go to exactly the same spot for each shot and you should be fine. Yet another reason why I love intranasal vaccines, too bad they aren't all in that form.

I'm going to include a link and the end of this post. You've probably seen the site already, but they seem to have pretty good prices and some good, if basic, advice for administering the vaccines, so it's here in case it's helpful.

Drontal is considered very safe and should be fine to give right away. My vet has given me similar parasite meds (wormers) and told me to just dose everybody, no problem. And I've done it lots of times. There's probably more danger in them going without it than there is in giving it to them pre-testing.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=87

So, from a fellow cat lady, welcome to the board, I hope this was at least a little bit helpful. I know it's frustrating when you are spending all that money and it's not cheap at home either. Believe me, I know. But we do it anyway, while bemoaning the gorgeous shoes we could've bought with all that cash!

I have a litter of 3 kittens from a rescue I did of a feral cat. I had no idea she was with family at the time. She is lovely and you'd never know it now that she were feral. I've rescued several other feral cats as well. Since this is getting costly to vaccinate so many cats I began to research giving the vaccinations myself as some breeders do. My question is, is there a reason the vets like to give the lukemia shot seperately from the other combinations or is that just convienence so they don't have to have the all in one vaccine too? I know that the kittens are not supposed to have the lukemia until later. I just hate to stick them so much if I can help it. Is it less effective this way? Since I am not a cattery, I thought I could wait until the 9 weeks to use the all in one instead of starting them earlier and then repeating. Any suggestions or opinions would be helpful. The last two cats cost me $300 just for initial exams and shots. I can't bear the thought of another $450 plus the costs of neutering and spaying them all. I also read I one of the other posts that it is reccommended to give Drontal to outdoor cats if they eat their prey. Do you need to test first before giving this or is it safe enough to just give and how often for adult cats? I also see there are mail in tests out there. Are these pretty accurate? Just trying to not go broke helping the animals! Thanks.

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